Shiawassee County Animal Control Plan B

11. United States is Canine Rabies Free

2007-10-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0741162020070907
September 7, 2007

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science EditorWASHINGTON (Reuters) -

Federal health experts declared a small victory against a fatal and untreatable virus on Friday, saying canine rabies has disappeared from the United States.

While dogs may still become infected from raccoons, skunks or bats, they will not catch dog-specific rabies from another dog, the Atlanta-based U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said."We don't want to misconstrue that rabies has been eliminated -- dog rabies virus has been,"

CDC rabies expert Dr. Charles Rupprecht told Reuters in a telephone interview.Rabies evolves to match the animals it infects, and the strain most specific to dogs has not been seen anywhere in the United States since 2004, Rupprecht said.

While the incubation period for rabies is as long as six years in humans, it is only six months in a dog."Even though we still live in a sea of rabies and even though we have rabies viruses circulating among raccoons and foxes and bats, the dog rabies virus, which is the most responsible for dog-to-dog transmission and which is still the greatest burden to humans ... it is that virus that has been eliminated.

"Rabies kills 55,000 people a year globally, according to the World Health Organization. It is easily prevented with a vaccine, but many people do not realize they have been infected and once symptoms begin to show, it is almost impossible to treat.

Only one person -- a Wisconsin girl who was put into an intentional coma in 2004 -- has ever been known to have survived rabies infection. Rupprecht said attempts to treat three victims in the United States and one in Canada have failed. The victims all died.

The virus can infect virtually all mammals, but like most viruses it evolves and can be "typed" genetically. Species-specific strains are well characterized for bats, raccoons and skunks for instance, as well as fordogs."A dog rabies is very different from a skunk rabies virus," Rupprecht said. While cats are susceptible, Rupprecht said there is not a known rabies strain specific to domestic cats.

Mandatory vaccination has created what is known as herd immunity in U.S. dogs, Rupprecht said, and it will be vital to continue this to protect dogs -- and people -- from the virus.

"The elimination of canine rabies in the United States represents one of the major public health success stories in the last 50 years," CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding said in a statement.

"However, there is still much work to be done to prevent and control rabies globally."Canine rabies is still very common in many countries, including much of Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, India, China, the Philippines and elsewhere.

Some island nations such as Japan, New Zealand, Barbados, Fiji, Maldives, and Seychelles are rabies-free. Greece, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Uruguay and Chile are also free of rabies.

10. additional revenue for Ferrets

2007-09-29T11:54:00.001-07:00

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9. Revenue / Estimated payments to sellers

2007-09-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

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8. Current Dog License Fees

2007-09-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

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7. New License Fees

2007-09-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

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6. BLOG INDEX

2007-09-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

Shiawassee County Dog Licensing

2. Plan B
3. Plan B - Overview
4. Arguments - Financial
5. Arguments
1. Michigan counties w/3 yr dog license
49) Animal Control Budgets 2003 thru 2008 draft
50) AC Shelter Reports 2000 thru 2006
6)Shiawassee County Animal Control Ordinance
7. New License Fees
8. Current Dog License Fees
9. Revenue / Estimated payments to sellers
10. additional revenue for Ferrets

5. Arguments

2007-09-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

At $10 per year per dog
For 2006 revenue for animal control was $159,400
For 2007 it is projected to be $153,811

Maybe $10,000 of that is from other than individual dog licenses.

To consider a 3 year license, there needs to be some incentive for people to purchase the 3 year license and for that reason the 3 year is usually less than 3 times the 1 year amount. There are still great benefits to utilizing the 3 year option.

At spayed/neutered dogs for 3 years of $25 and unaltered dogs at $75-85.
That would provide incentive to purchase the 3 year license and a first year revenue of about $449,950. Nice little jolt there. That would be the 17,998 dogs licensed before March 31, at $25 for three years. Actually, maybe only 1/3 would be for three years and that would get you $270,000. Still a nice little jolt. There would be more throughout the rest of the year.

The second and third year’s would take care of the rest of the 3 year vaccinated dogs and get you maybe $120,000. The fourth year would, again, be considerably more with the first three year licenses coming up for renewal. Eventually it would level out to about the same each year, with dog licenses expiring throughout the year, and leveling the workload over the entire year.

Shiawassee County uses veterinarians, township treasurers and city treasurers or clerks to sell dog licenses up until March 31,

All must turn in by March 31 and by March 31 the majority of dog licenses have been sold. This year the March 31 Budgetary Status report shows revenue of $80,610. April 30, 2007 the income from dog licenses was $125,989.

I can’t quite swallow that all of that additional $45,379 was licenses purchased as delinquent in April. I must assume that the lion’s share of that was monies turned in by township treasurers, city clerks/treasurers or veterinarians too late to record in March books.

That would be the major portion of the dog license revenue. After March 31 licenses must be purchased through the county treasurer’s office. Even with the bulk of the licenses being sold prior to March 31, the treasurer seems compelled to grant the humane society the authority to sell licenses all year. State law has provided other alternatives to relieving the workload on the treasurer’s office.

Shiawassee County pays $3.00 per license to sell dog licenses. Considering most people spay/neuter and that license is $10 per year, that is a potential loss to the county’s revenue of $53,000 or so annually.

If the 3 year option is used, it really doesn’t take anymore time to issue a 3 year license than it does to issue a 1 year license. There shouldn’t be a need to raise that payment, should all desire to leave the selling as it is for this first year. That would still save the county considerable on that loss as approximately one third of the licenses issued would be for three years.

Or, better yet, the treasurer could be urged to take back his responsibility and sell all the dog licenses through his office. Thus preserving that revenue for the county. I think the county could use it and it appears to be more than enough to fund even a couple part time workers. The county doesn’t really need to donate to the humane society or the veterinarians.

That should also be more than enough to fund automating the license process such as is done in most other counties. Examples of Clinton County and Bay County enclosed. Clinton County provided me with the name of the software and contact information. Well worth checking into.

Bay County also licenses cats, the same as they do dogs. That would not work on a three year basis as the rabies vaccine in cats is only good for one year. The Shiawassee Animal Control Shelter activity (enclosed) report for 2006 listed the same number of cats taken in as dogs. If that is any indication of the number of cats in the county you could expect about the same amount of revenue from cat licenses as dogs. Somewhere around $130,000 to $140,000. There have been no cases of rabies reported in dogs (they get vaccinated and licensed) while there have been 3 cases of rabies reported in cats (most do not get vaccinated and none get licensed).

Ferrets should also be licensed and I’m guessing the rabies vaccine in ferrets is likely only good for one year. I have no idea how many ferrets there might be in the county. There are some and they bite people.

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4. Arguments - Financial

2007-09-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

April 30, 2007 the income from dog licenses was $125,989.
March 31,2007 income from dog licenses was $80,610.

I can’t quite swallow that all of that additional $45,379 was licenses purchased as delinquent in April. I must assume that the lion’s share of that was monies turned in by township treasurers, city clerks/treasurers or veterinarians too late to record in March books. There is no way to know exactly who sold the licenses from the records published and no way to know how many were for spayed/neutered dogs. Nor can I tell how many were sold prior to March 31 and not recorded until April. This would have to be considered my best educated guess.

I am going to take the drastic side (for lack of those detailed records) and say that the $125,989 was all spayed/neutered dog licenses paid for prior to March 31 and at $10.00 per dog. The county would receive $7 per dog, while the other $3 went to whoever sold the license.

That would mean that 17,998 dog licenses were sold for $179,980 prior to March 31.

Meaning $53,991 was paid out to township treasurers, city clerks/treasurers or veterinarians. That is a nice little chunk of change.

If our county treasurer were to hire two temporary people for 3 months (January, February and March) just to sell dog licenses, I think we would still have quite a chunk of change left over. How much could a temp cost? $2,000 a month ($10-$12 per hour plus), $6,000 for 3 months for one, $12,000 for two. That means $41,991 is still left. I’m also assuming that the majority gets sold through veterinarians, not township treasurers or city clerks/treasurers. There would be some there, but the township clerks I have spoken to say they don’t sell very many licenses.

I think that is well worth bringing the dog licensing completely “in-house” and certainly applying all encouragement and/or pressure on the treasurer to do so. That is a duty imposed on the treasurer by the dog law and it could even be considered malfeasance or misfeasance of office to not do it. That is his job.

As it is, he is paying out a lot of money that should be going into the county’s general fund. As a taxpayer, I feel that is not taking very good care of our money.

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3. Plan B - Overview

2007-09-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

Plan B

Overview

Currently Shiawassee County pays approximately $54,000 annually for outside sellers to sell dog licenses. The Humane Society is seeking to also sell dog licenses and that would increase that figure.

The state legislature has provisions in the dog law of 1919 to help alleviate the dog licensing burden on the treasurer’s office. That entails the possibility of renewing at the expiration of the dog’s rabies vaccination, either for a one year or a three year dog license. That would spread the workload over the entire year and theoretically reduce the workload to 1/3 by using the three year license option. The 1 year or 3 year must be a choice of the dog owner and not all would be eligible, nor would all choose that option. Many would.

The CDC has recently declared the U.S. “rabies free”. Sounds rather hollow with the state of Michigan issuing warnings about bats carrying rabies and a rise in the number of cases reported. A very real threat and this is no time to let down our due diligence.

This is a good time to require other household pets to be vaccinated. Namely cats and ferrets. There have been several cases of rabies reported in cats.

The three year dog license can provide a jolt to the county revenue that could easily finance the needed computer/internet based systems to relieve the burden on the treasurer even more. Currently the dog license records are not readily available. This needs to be corrected and a computer based system would certainly do that.

Licenses are available by mail and could be available over the internet as is done in several other Michigan Counties. Clinton County being one of those and printouts from their website are enclosed.

Going to a three year option, adding cat licenses and ferret licenses requires a change (amendment) to the Shiawassee County Animal Control Ordinance during the 60 days prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. That also requires a public hearing. Expect some complaints about cat licenses. They always do, but our animal control shelter takes care of about the same number of cats as they do dogs. Cats, more specifically cat owners, have been getting a free ride for quite some time. It is time they paid their fair share.

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2. Plan B

2007-09-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

Plan B

Overview

Arguments

Current

A. Dog License Fees
Suggested accounting breakdown
Other counties with 3 year licenses
B. Animal Control Budget 2003=2008
C. Animal Control Shelter Annual Report 2000-2006
D. Shiawassee County Animal Control Ordinance
Article IV Licensing
E. Michigan Dog Law of 1919 Sec 6 Licensing

Proposed changes

A. New Shiawassee County Animal Control
Article IV Licensing
B. New three year fees dog license
New one year fees cat license
New one year fees ferret license
C. Revenue/Estimated payments to license sellers
Projected additional Revenue for 3 year license
Projected additional Revenue for licensing cats
Projected additional Revenue for licensing ferrets
D. Examples
Bay County
Clinton County
E. Proposed Resolution
F. Approval from the county treasurer
G. Schedule Public Hearing for November or December

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1. Michigan counties w/3 yr dog license

2007-09-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

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